lots of Pictures of our renovation--long!

kitchen_mamanFebruary 10, 2013

I thought I would share some pictures of my renovation! We just moved back in, but unfortunately we have about another 3 weeks of work. The kitchen cabinets aren't even going to be here until 5 March! We were unable to stay where we were, the guys daughter wanted to move in. So we spent 9 days in a hotel. We will be living in our basement while they finish. They have to finish sanding the dry wall so we are sleeping upstairs tonight.

Great room fireplace- this will now be viewed from the kitchen
View of dining room from master...befor it was closed
New open kitchen
New stairs to basement and view into the new library
View of dining room from kitchen
How we are using dinig room today...
New front
Our sample of marble for our counters--Christmas

It is on the back. We added about 500 sq feet off the back of the house to add on a dining room, very modest master bedroom suite (the bedroom is about 12 x 10.5) with a nice bathroom and walk in closet (about 5 x 7) and then we also added a 5 x 7 bathroom off the old master. The total square footage of the house will be about 1600 sq feet. The basement will have about 600 sq feet finished, but even with large egress windows, it is not considered living space because there is no door to the outside.

Oh wow. It is going to be amazing but I do feel for you with the hassle factor. We moved back in probably well before we should have but it needed to happen. And the end seemed to drag on forever! Keep us updated!

Kitchen_maman, thanks so much for posting!! Your new space looks amazing! I had posted on one of your earlier threads but lost it- so I've been watching GW for any updates. We live very close (just on the outskirts of North Chevy Chase) and also have a galley kitchen. I can't wait to see your "after" shots and I'd love any recommendations you may have on contractors and sources for materials.

Fwiw, all your inconvenience now will be so worth it. Our house was expanded twice by previous owners; not sure what it looked like at the outset but now it is about 1950 sqft with a decent amount of living space. But they put in the most basic, awful looking kitchen you can imagine, with a totally dysfunctional layout (it is a passageway between the "old" living/dining area and the newer larger versions in the addition.) I can only imagine how difficult it is to live through such a huge renovation, but it will be so worth it in the end, and in this area any improvements will pay off when/if you ever sell.

Here is the next group of pictures. The house is being painted this weekend. The countertops templated on Friday. The floors sanded and stained this weekend (thank goodness because we are going out of town!). I have painted everything I can at this point, so it will just be the stairwell and the basement when I get back.

Kitchen

Sorry this image is no longer available.

Color in the main living area
And darker accent wall for the fireplace
Reclaimed door for master bedroom
Daughters bathroom
Master bath with reclaimed furniture as vanities
View from kitchen
New front porch
Master bedroom and picture of reclaimed fireplace surround that we refinished

Mercy, that's a lot of work you've accomplished there! I'll be interested in your galley kitchen too. I'm a fan of the galley.
And the open raftered gable with those windows up there, HOOO BOY, that is an awesome space.

What brand of windows did you get? I have a similar gable but not so high up. We need hurricane/high wind windows, so wondered about the brand. Did you replace any old windows, or have them rebuilt? Windows are on my mind as you see.

Moccasinlanding, I am sorry it took so long! I was on vacation and couldn't remember what brand we bought. We installed all new jeld-wen windows.

We are nearing the end, and thank goodness because I am at a near loss of patience. The countertops will go in sometime between tomorrow and Friday. We hope to have the painters in to finish the trim, doors and windows. I did not want to take that on. Expensive, but totally worth it. The appliances and the rest of the lights will be installed next Tuesday. They are finishing up the outside. I am very happy with the results and look forward to the final reveal!

Thanks, Maman. I cannot wait to see your final reveal.
Actually, a video uploaded to YouTube or Flickr would be perfect, narrated, with someone pulling out drawers showing us the kitchen, mentioning the brand of appliance. I bet you'd get a gazillion hits.

I'm really excited for you, because I see this big project looming ahead of me, and I'm tired already! You must be exhausted.

Marti8a, yes! If you look at the pictures below of our countertops, you can see the fireplace surround in front of the existing fireplace. We are not sure if we are keeping the brick. The architect and I want to get rid of it. I would love to use the white marble from the kitchen floors. My husband wants to keep the brick. It is very interesting and I am not sue you could find it like that any more, very, very long and very very thing. One architect said it was very frank Lloyd wright.

Our appliances will be here on Tuesday. Trim is being done. The rest of the lights will go up next Wednesday!!!

Maman, I must have missed something about the lights.....why would they be controversial? The ones near your stove, the two ceiling fixtures? They look cute to me as well. Sort of like the lights we had on boats, which had screw on glass globes to be explosion proof by keeping fumes away from an ignition source. Very industrial feel to them.

I want industrial too, but not so much pendants, not with an 8' 2" ceiling height. What would be the point? Perhaps one somewhere, but I'm looking as wall sconces which are up-lights and then some under-shelf lighting. Won't have any upper cabs to speak of, you know.

Beautiful! I was one who did not like the jar-like light fixtures. Now I see that the stairway is going down, so the lights are not going to shine in eyes of people walking down the stairs, and that there is a header going all the way between the kitchen and the living room that blocks the lights from view. Those two factors help a lot when it comes to not having to suffer the glare from the two lights. I think you will not have the problems with them that I anticipated, and they do give you the good light in this space that you wanted without hanging down, which I know you did not like. Good for you for sticking to what you thought would work best.

Your renovations are so extensive that your house will likely feel brand new. The clean white and gray of marble in the baths, white and black tile in the dining room, white and gray in the kitchen, and gray wall in the living room are all so clean a palate! Your decorating options are endless. I like the deep terra cotta color of the walls in the kitchen, it ties the color of the fireplace bricks into the decor. Have you chosen a color for the new wood outside yet? I like the farthest right panel for the main color and the blue-gray to its left for the ceiling of the porch. My second choice is the color on the furthest left. It may go better with the roof color than my first choice. Which color have you chosen?

Moccasins, I originally was asking about opinions on the lights back in January. Most people didn't like them because the lights might glare into people's eyes or that they would be too industrial. I thought I would go for it because they were only $10. I thought if I didn't like them or that they didn't go with the rest of the design, I would just switch them out.

Nancy, here is a more finished picture of the front with the photo shopped door. It will have dentil molding. Our roof is a very light grey. It matches the stone on the columns. I think. Lol! It is so difficult to tell with the big container in the way!

kitchen_maman, it all looks amazing. I'm in your area and need to find a contractor to redo our galley kitchen and 2 bathrooms. Are you happy with the firm you used? Can you give me any sense of where they fall in the budget spectrum? I'll need to do a bit of finagling of an interior wall, so I need to find someone capable of dealing with the permits and figuring out the structural stuff even for this project. Plus we will probably do a MBR/MBA addition in a few years, so I'd love to find good contractors who can help us gradually improve the house. Yours looks so spectacular now, congratulations!

Was your marble floor difficult to install or should I say more difficult than porcelain tiles ? I don't even know why I'm asking since I put down porcelain and wouldn't have been allowed to use marble...
The lights are "super cute". Can you show a closeup of the chandelier--that's the black/white right ?

I think maybe he was just tired. I was told he has a anew baby and an illness in the family. Strange. I arrived home today and he did it. And I think it looks fabulous! He underestimated himself maybe.

Hey everyone! I am getting closer! I just posted my finished kitchen over in the kitchen forum. We are still putting everything together and cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning! I will post more of the house here when we have more finished!